There are five MLB teams that have never won a World Series. After this season, there will be four.
That alone imbues this series with compellingly straightforward stakes. For the Rays, it has been 29 years of existence and two failed trips to the Fall Classic, most recently in the neutral-site Covid-19 World Series in 2020. For the Brewers, it’s been 58 years of existence and they haven’t played in the final game of a season since 1982, before many of their current fans were even born.
If the Brewers win tonight, they’ll be one win away from a World Series title – just as they were in 1982.
The Rays, in particular, are often mocked on a national level for their fickle Florida fanbase that would rather enjoy the year-round sun than sit in the necessary traffic to get to games in St. Petersburg.
But when the broadcast cuts to either crowd in a clinching scenario, keep in mind the people who are there are hoping to see history made.
It’s one of the toughest judgment calls in sports: When does a hitter go too far on a checked swing?
On the final pitch of Game 2 with the tying run on third, Yandy Díaz clearly thought he held up in time and Aaron Ashby’s curveball should have been ball four. There were 40,000-some-odd folks at American Family Field who will say this was a clear swing and Díaz went too far.
The longtime Ray had to be restrained after the game and guided off the field by coaches and teammates. It’s a really close call – I’m honestly not sure what I think.
You be the judge – should this have been strike three?
A sold-out ballpark full of fans willing to pay obscene prices to see their hometown team finally back in the World Series will, indeed, give games a certain aura. Especially if they win. It’s like what a soundtrack does for a movie scene: Subconsciously tell you how to feel.
And the sound of 40,000-plus Midwesterners losing their minds did a lot over the past two nights to make the Brewers seem like the main characters in this World Series.
Recency bias factors, too. We forget how a team can set a home run record one night and get literally no-hit the next (see the Phillies in the World Series in 2022). The Brewers have enjoyed their home field advantage this weekend and the Rays may do the same when the series turns to Tropicana Field on Monday.
But it’s not just the two Ws that make Milwaukee feel inevitable. After the Rays jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first, we highlighted an utterly absurd statistic. This year the Brewers have a better than .500 after falling behind .
The best team in baseball got that way by beating the other team more often than not when they’re up, and when they’re down. Combined with the best bullpen in the National League and the games go a little something like this: They always have a good chance to come back, but the opposition does not.
Destiny, though, requires more than just dominating stats. It requires the ball bouncing your way and an unexpected hero coming through in a big moment.
On Saturday night that was Sal Frelick.
He was, perhaps, the least likely member of the Brewers lineup to hit a 408-foot home run to straightaway center off a lefty reliever. And so of course that’s exactly what he did, to tie the game and complete the comeback.
Some home runs have their importance underscored by the author taking his time to admire his moon shot and round the base paths, milking every moment. But Frelick scampered out of the box and sped around the bases like he was eager to keep the momentum moving.
The next inning, rookie shortstop Cooper Pratt smacked the go-ahead single. It was his error in the first that had kicked off the Rays’ four-run frame and then there he was: the living embodiment of the Brewers overcoming early failures for ultimate victory.
It’s a potent fallback to winning easily.
Of course, twice now the Rays have ended the game with the tying run on third base – which you a testament to just how well-matched these two teams are. Or could draw your attention to how Tampa has gone 3-20 with runners in scoring position through the first two games of this Fall Classic.
Extremely not Team of Destiny behavior.
The Milwaukee Brewers hand the ball to left-hander Robert Gasser who enters Game 3 with a pristine 1.00 ERA over nine postseason innings.
Standing in the way of a Milwaukee stranglehold is Tampa Bay right-hander Freddy Peralta (2-0, 1.08 ERA this postseason), the ALCS MVP who spent his first eight seasons with the Brewers.
Armed with a blazing fastball, Peralta faces the ultimate test against his former club as the Rays fight to keep their World Series hopes alive.
The Milwaukee Brewers defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 5-4 to take Game 2 of the World Series on Saturday at American Family Field.
Saturday’s game proved to be a bit more complex for the Brew Crew, having to erase an early huge deficit to go up 2-0 in the best-of-seven series.
The Rays jumped on Milwaukee’s rookie sensation Logan Henderson, scoring four runs in the first inning, highlighted by Liam Hicks’ two-run home run.
But as the Brewers have proved all season, an early hole doesn’t affect them in the slightest.
Milwaukee clawed back in the bottom of the first, adding two runs to make it a 4-2 game.
After a shaky start to the game, both starting pitchers — Henderson and Drew Rasmussen found their grove until the bottom of the fourth inning when Rays first baseman Jonathan Aranda’s error at first allowed the Brewers to make it a one-run game.
Both teams turned to their respective bullpens, but the tide truly turned in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Rays’ relief pitcher Tyler Wells allowed a moonshot home run to Brewers’ outfielder Sal Frelick to tie the game at 4-4.
With the sold-out Milwaukee faithful behind them, they quickly took the lead the next inning with Cooper Pratt RBI single.
Brewers reliever Aaron Ashby has proved to be a workhorse for the team all postseason and after getting out of the eighth inning with ease, his ninth inning lift was a bit harder.
A leadoff double by Jonny DeLuca put the tying run in scoring position right away. However, the 28-year-old struck out Victor Mesa Jr, made pinch hitter Kevin Williamson ground out and struck out Yandy Diaz on a controversial check swing.
The Brewers clawed back from four runs down and yet again proved why this team loves playing from behind.
They improved 41-37 when allowing the first run this season, including the postseason and find themselves two games from bringing home the franchise’s first World Series title.
Tonight’s game on Florida’s Gulf Coast isn’t an elimination game but it’s pretty close.
The Milwaukee Brewers are up 2-0 in the 2026 World Series and history says they should be the heavy favorites to win the Fall Classic. The Tampa Bay Rays, meanwhile, are returning home and are facing a must-win game at Tropicana Field.
Of the 57 teams who have fallen behind 2-0 in the World Series, nine of them have come back to win the title. None of the teams who have fallen behind 3-0 have pulled off the comeback.
That makes Tampa’s task tonight fairly simple: Win, at all costs.
But it won’t be an easy one, if the high-flying Brewers have anything to do with it.
The game starts at 8 p.m. ET and is airing on Fox/streaming on Fox One and MLB.tv. Follow along with us here for all the developments, highlights and analysis from CNN Sports!
